Town Hall Seattle: Science Series

The Science series presents cutting-edge research about biology, physics, chemistry, ecology, geology, astronomy, and more. These events appeal to many different levels of expertise, from grade school students to career scientists. With a range of relevant applications, including medicine, the environment, and technology, this series expands our thinking and our possibilities.

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Town Hall is a gathering place where ideas are planted and movements grow. It’s where we come together as a community to listen and be heard—to ask and answer the big questions facing our city and our world. Annually, we present hundreds of artists and scholars, and collaborate with more than 150 grassroots groups in our self-produced programs. Rooted in the belief that we all deserve a voice, our programming reflects—and inspires—our region's best impulses: creativity, empathy, and innovation. With our podcast series, we take one more step towards making our programming accessible to all.

Has the pursuit of the ultra-precise in so many facets of human
life blinded us to other things of equal value, such as an
appreciation for the age-old traditions of craftsmanship, art, and
high culture?Acclaimed author Simon
Winchester joined us to discuss this complex quandary with insight
from his newest book The Perfectionists: How Precision
Engineers Created the Modern World. He explored whether
we are missing something that reflects the world as it is, rather
than the world as we think we would wish it to be—and whether the
precise and the natural can co-exist in society.

Winchester traced the development of technology from the
Industrial Age to the Digital Age to examine the component he
contends is most crucial to human advancement—precision. He
outlined how the application of increasingly precise tools and
methods resulted in the creation and mass-production of crucial
innovations from guns and camera lenses to gene splicing and
microchips. Winchester charted the rise of the manufacturing era
and the development of unprecedented new fabrication tools:
machines that make machines. Join Winchester for a conversation on
the fundamental importance of precision in our tools, our minds,
and our methods—and the capacity of this force to change the course
of the modern world.

Simon Winchester is the acclaimed author
of many books, including The Professor and the Madman, The
Men Who United the States, The Map That Changed the World, The Man
Who Loved China, A Crack in the Edge of the World,
and Krakatoa, all of which were New York
Times bestsellers and appeared on numerous best and
notable lists. In 2006, Winchester was made an officer of the Order
of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty the Queen.

Recorded live at University Prep by Town Hall Seattle on
Wednesday, May 23, 2018.

About the Podcast

The Science series presents cutting-edge research about biology, physics, chemistry, ecology, geology, astronomy, and more. These events often present complex topics in a form that can be understood and enjoyed by listeners at many different levels of expertise, from grade school students to career scientists. With a range of relevant applications, including medicine, the environment, and technology, this series expands our thinking and the possibilities of our world.